Sealing device for collection truck container with automatic pivotal loading hood



F. REY 3,152,707 smmc DEVICE FOR COLLECTION TRUCK CONTAINER Oct. 13, 1964 WITH AUTOMATIC PIVOTAL LOADING HOOD Filed Oct.

2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FERNAND'F Q EV BE! 1 06L 1964 F. REY 3,152,707

SEALING DEVICE FOR COLLECTION TRUCK CONTAINER WITH AUTOMATIC PIVOTAL LOADING HOOD Filed Oct. 23, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR FERNAND REY MWM ATTORNEYS United States Patent SEALING DEVICE FOR COLLECTION TRUCK CONTAINER WITH AUTOMATIC PIVOTAL LOADING HOOD Fernand Rey, 2 Rue Antoine Roucher, Paris, France Filed Oct. 23, 1962, Ser. No. 232,518 Claims priority, application France Oct. 25, 1961 1 Claim. (Cl. 214--303) In the collection truck containers employed for collecting domestic refuse and the like, it is known to effect the hermetic closure of the automatic loading device with pivotal hood by means of a flexible curtain which is disposed at the top portion of the hood and which is usually secured at one end thereof either to the top edge of the plate which supports the refuse can or in the vicinity of its pivotal attachment to the hood-closing flap and at the other end thereof to a fixed point of the container, while springs apply the requisite tension to the said curtain during the movement of the hood. This type of closure is simple to carry into eifect and provides very good hermetic closure if care has first been taken to fit sealing joints on each of the walls between which said curtain is stretched.

Attempts have been made to ensure hermetic closure in a different manner by making use of a bellows system, one end of which was attached to a stationary part of the loading device while the other end was attached to the peripheral rim of the pivotal hood. Although the idea was sound, it would appear that rather serious practical difficulties were encountered, especially as regards the hermetic state of this system at its articulation points and its rigid support in all positions, with the result that this system has been abandoned.

The present invention has for its object to provide a hermetic sealing device in the form of a bellows type expansion cover for a collection truck container with automatic pivotal loading hood, characterized in that the bellows type expansion cover, which is attached in rigid and fluidtight manner at one end to a stationary portion of the pivotal hood, is constructed of a curved envelope of fabric-lined rubber, the folds of which are reinforced in order to admit of fan-wise pivotal movement about a pivot-pin without becoming deformed, thereby providing a hermetic closing means of simple design which is both practical and inexpensive.

In accordance with a further feature of the invention the reinforcement of the folds is constituted by hoops embedded in the rubber, each hoop having two asymmetric arms, two consecutive arms being reversed with respect to each other inside the folds of the expansion cover in order to facilitate the folding-together of this atter.

In accordance with another feature of the invention, the bellows type expansion cover is supported by at least three independent hoops which are brought to bear inside the hollows of three folds of the expansion cover at equidistant points and which have the same axis of rotation as that of the expansion cover.

In accordance with yet another feature of the invention side plates disposed outside the expansion cover ensure the dust-tight articulation of said expansion cover.

The invention also includes within its scope the features which will be described below and various possible combinations thereof.

A sealing device in accordance with the invention will now be described by way of example without implied limitation, reference being made to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates the rear end of a collection truck container which is fitted with the device;

FIG. 2 represents a detail view of the device in the extended position as shown diagrammatically and in crosssection; and

FIG. 3 represents a detail view of one side of the de vice as shown diagrammatically and in transverse crosssection.

FIG. 1 shows the rear of a truck container 1, in which the pivotal hood 2 of the automatic loading device 3 designed for the purpose of loading refuse and garbage stored in a container such as a garbage can 4 is fitted with a bellows type expansion cover 5 which ensures the hermetic closure of the load.

The expansion cover 5 (as shown in FIG. 2) is composed of a curved envelope 6 of fabric-lined rubber, one end 7 of which is rigidly fixed in fluid-tight manner on a stationary portion 8 of the loading device while the other end 9 is also fixed in rigid and fluid-tight manner on a movable portion 10 of the pivotal hood. The said envelope 6 is provided with a number of folds 11 which are all adapted to swing about a pivot-pin 12 provided on a support 13 which is integral with the truck container.

Each of the folds 11 of the expansion cover is reinforced by a small hoop 14 which is embedded in the rubber. The said hoops 14 each have two arms 15 and 16 which are in parallel and asymmetric relation so as to facilitate the folding operation when said hoops are reversed from one fold 11 to the following fold, and in order to prevent too great rigidity at the center of the expansion cover.

The bellows type expansion cover 5 is supported by three hoops 17, 18, 19 of larger diameter than the hoops 14. The said hoops 17, 18 and 19 are independent and pivot about the pin 12 of the expansion cover. They are spaced apart over the development of the expansion cover and are applied against this latter inside the hollows of the folds 11. Although they are not attached to the expansion cover but simply held inside the folds thereof, the said hoops cannot become disengaged therefrom during the operating movements.

It will be noticed in FIG. 3 that the three hoops 17, 18 and 19 are pivotally mounted on the pin 12. Whilst the arms 20 of the hoops 17 are rectilineal up to the pin 12, the arms 21 and 22 of the two other hoops 18 and 19 are provided respectively with two bent-back portions 23 and 24 in the vicinity of the pin 12 so that, although the said hoops are mounted on the same pin, almost complete folding-back of the expansion cover is thereby made possible. This figure also shows that the hoop 19 which is intended to be located in the vicinity of the outer face 10 of the pivotal hood is slightly smaller than the two other hoops.

The envelope 6 which forms the expansion cover is interrupted at a short distance from the pin 12 (as shown in FIG. 3) in order that it may thus be more easily folded, While the dust-tight articulation of said expansion cover is ensured by means of side plates 25 mounted outside the rubber envelope.

The operation of this device can be readily understood. Accordingly, when the pivotal hood 2 swivels under the action of the loading device 3 which rotates about the axis 26, each reinforced fold 11 of the expansion cover 5 swings about the common pivot-pin 12 and the expansion cover closes. When the hood returns to its initial position, the expansion cover again opens as shown in FIG. 2.

The present invention accordingly makes it possible to construct a device which makes it possible in an effective manner to ensure the hermetic closure of collection truck containers with pivotal hoods. Moreover, this device is of simple design and can thus be fitted on pivotal-hood containers of different types, is inexpensive to produce and can be replaced both simply and rapidly.

It is obvious that the invention is not limited to the example of construction which has been described and illustrated and on the basis of which it will be possible to make provision for other methods and other forms of embodiment as applicable in particular to the number, shape and arrangement of the hoops, without thereby departing from the scope of the invention.

I claim:

A sealing device in the form of a bellows-type expansion cover for a collection truck container, adapted for pivoting about an axis by more than 90 from an expanded position to a folded position in which a free passage remains through the cover for the material to be loaded, comprising a pivot-pin, a first series of hoops, a bellows-type expansion cover provided by a curved envelope of fabric-lined rubber having a large number of folds of small depth reinforced by said first hoops each being embedded in one of said folds of said cover, each of said first hoops having lateral arms substantially per- References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,266,853 Dabney Dec. 23, 1941 2,543,597 Peery Feb. 27, 1951 2,644,574 Mercier July 7, 1953 FOREIGN PATENTS 949,736 France Sept. 7, 1949 

